Annual List Of Banned Words.

Those scholars at Lake Superior University have put out another list of words, that are banned from 'the Queen's English' for over use, mis-use and not considered needed anymore.

This list now in its fifth decade was started by W. T. Rabe, a public relations director at Lake Superior State University. That first list came out in 1976. These are the words that were on the list that year.

At This Point in Time – Why not say “now,” or “today?” Typical Delay-by-Elongation, giving subject at press conference time to think up plausible lie, e.g. “At this point in time we are, err, mmmmm, unaware of the allegation that the earth is round.” -Queen Isabella.

Meaningful – Has lost all of its meaningfulness.

Input – Has unfortunately replaced “contribution.” Often used in combination; as “meaningful input.”

Scenario – Spread like wildfire after Watergate. It can be roughly translated as “I don’t know what had happened (or will happen) but this is a scenario.” Means: “I’m making this up.” Also used when reporter doesn’t want to use “according to unimpeachable source.”

Detente – Invented by Henry Kissinger. Nobody else knows what it means, and now even Kissinger has forgotten. [Before the year was out the president of the United States also banished “detente.” Later, voters banished Kissinger and the president.]

Dialogue – and its other form Meaningful Dialogue. Neither has meaning remaining in it.

Implement and Viable – Gobbledygook disguised as intelligence: as in “that is not a viable alternative which we can implement.” Meaning: “We don’t want to do it and think you have a crazy idea here.”

Call for Resignation – Of all sports reporter who fail to state clearly in the lead: The winner and the score.

Here are the words banned for 2018:

Unpack – Misused word for analyze, consider, assess. Concepts or positions are not packed, so they don't need to be unpacked.

Tons – Refers to an exaggerated quantity, as in tons of sunshine or tons of work. 'Lots' would surely suffice.

Dish – As in to dish out the latest rumor on someone. Let's go back to 'talks about' and leave dishes in the cupboard.

Pre-owned – What is so disgraceful about owning a used car now and then?

Onboarding / Offboarding – Creature from the HR Lagoon. We used to have hiring, training and orientation. Now we need to have an “onboarding” process. Firings, quitting, and retirements are streamlined into “offboarding.”

Nothingburger – Says nothing that 'nothing' doesn't already. I'll take a quarter-pound of something in mine.

Let that sink in – One could say shocking, profound, or important. Let that sink in.

Covfefe – An impulsive typo, born into a 140-character universe, somehow missed by the autocorrect feature.

Drill Down – Instead of expanding on a statement, we “drill down on it.”

Fake News – Once upon a time stories could be empirically disproved. Now 'fake news' is any story you disagree with.

Hot Water Heater – Hot water does not need to be heated. 'Water heater' or 'hot water maker' will keep us out of hot water.

Gig Economy – Gigs are for musicians and stand-up comedians. Now expanded to imply a sense of freedom and a lifestyle that rejects tradition in a changing economic culture. Runs a risk of sharecropping.